A Night of Firsts for Progressive Women of Color

Bridget Read (Vogue, 07/11/2018)

American women of color made history tonight in congressional midterm races: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Sharice Davids, and Deb Haaland (running as progressives in New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas, and New Mexico, respectively) have achieved a series of firsts in their successful bids for House seats. In a night with many major gubernatorial races too close to call, their victories were early sources of excitement for the Democratic Party—for both the blue and pink waves, which have seen a record number of women and women of color run for office.

Ocasio-Cortez, at 29, will be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress; she unseated longtime incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th District, encompassing parts of Queens and the Bronx. At a victory party in Queens on Tuesday night, Ocasio-Cortez gave a rousing speech in which she repeated some of her staple platform positions: ending corporate money in politics, securing Medicare for all, ending mass incarceration, and abolishing ICE.

First Gay Governor Elected as Women of Color Make History in House and Senate

Gene Maddaus (Variety, 06/11/2018)

Jared Polis was declared the winner of the Colorado governor’s race on Tuesday, becoming the first openly gay governor in the nation, and leading a wave of “firsts” across the nation.

Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland of New Mexico were elected the first Native American women in Congress. Davids, an attorney, is also the state’s first lesbian congresswoman and is an ex-MMA fighter and member of the Ho-Chunk Nation.

Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota also won their races, making them the first two Muslim women in the House.

Night of Firsts: Rashida Tlaib, Sharice Davids and More Make History in Midterm Elections

Karen Zraick (The New York Times, 07/11/2018)

There were historic firsts across the country on Tuesday night, as voters chose from a set of candidates that was among the most diverse ever to run in the United States. Native American, Muslim and African-American women, and L.G.B.T. candidates, were among those who broke barriers.

Here are some of the winners who made history. (See election results for the House of Representatives, the Senate and governors’ races.)